


Heat

by ssrhpurgatory



Series: Star Trek AU [5]
Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, F/M, Pon Farr, and starts spawning AUs off of AUs, look if you’re looking for real w359 fic look elsewhere, this is what happens when someone shipping OC/canon gets way too into it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:55:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssrhpurgatory/pseuds/ssrhpurgatory
Summary: In Chapter 12 of Crash, V’Ginn supposes that if he had been given the chance to actually choose Rwiari, he would have gone to her and begged her to be his mate, so my brain decided I needed to write that alternate version of events.Actual relationship of the contents of this fic to Wolf 359: extremely tangential. (Originally written 2020, backdated to hopefully take it out of current fic search.)
Relationships: Alexander Hilbert/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Star Trek AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592506
Kudos: 1





	Heat

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Crash](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20262634) by [ssrhpurgatory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssrhpurgatory/pseuds/ssrhpurgatory). 



The Eupheme finished docking, and V’Ginn almost let out a sigh of relief. The past two weeks had been more than a little confusing, and he was glad they were over.

He had not known what to expect when the captain had sent him on this mission. He recognized, of course, that he was far more suited than Dr. Stukov for a mission that involved providing medical care and equipment to a colony of empaths; as a Terran, Viktor had no defenses against such things and would have been completely overwhelmed and possibly damaged by the experience. But then the captain had insisted that V’Ginn take Rwiari Ibreten along with him.

Oh, he understood the logic of it. Miss Ibreten had only recently been acquitted of the crimes she had spent the better part of a decade in prison for. But that acquittal had revealed corruption surrounding a program within Starfleet that gave V’Ginn the cold shudders just to think about, and it was unclear whether the corrupt elements had been fully rooted out, or whether the program had actually been disbanded or just moved further into the shadows. It was natural, then, with the Hephaestus about to spend two weeks at a Federation station for repairs and a resupply, that his captain would want her aunt as far from any official Starfleet operation as possible. And as dubious as V’Ginn had been about Miss Ibreten’s presence on this mission, she had been genuinely useful. Very few of the empaths in the colony had had the mental discipline necessary to keep their emotions from spilling everywhere, and without Miss Ibreten’s assistance, he suspected he would have been hard-pressed to keep his mind free and clear enough to work.

But her presence still bothered him in some way he could not define, and two weeks spent working side-by-side with her, two weeks spent safe within the protective shelter of her mind, had left him tense and itching under his skin. Which had, in turn, lead to the pair of them fighting for almost the entire journey to their rendezvous point with the Hephaestus, all the way up until the last few hours, when they had mutually decided that silence was the best option.

The tension between them was almost palpable, all the same.

Miss Ibreten sprang to her feet as V’Ginn initiated the sequence to open the shuttle doors. By the time he had gathered his duffel off the bunk he had been sleeping on for the past two weeks, she was halfway across the shuttle bay.

V’Ginn let out the sigh he had been suppressing. After two weeks with Rwiari at his side, her sudden absence left him feeling strange and a little bit unmoored.

Rwiari. He kept slipping in his mind. She had not given him leave to call her by her given name.

Of course, he had not asked.

His badge chirped. “Isa to V’Ginn.”

“Yes, Captain?”

“You have a free moment now for a mission debriefing?”

V’Ginn wanted to say no, to tell his Captain that he desperately needed a day to clear his mind, to meditate. But no; if he returned to his quarters and stayed there, he would no doubt start reading reports from his time away from the ship, and would not have time for the meditation he needed to put himself in a better frame of mind. It would be better to get this over with now. “Certainly. I will stow bag and come to briefing room.”

“See you in ten.”

“How’s Ri?” was the first thing out of Isa’s mouth when V’Ginn entered the briefing room. His expression must have changed to reflect his thoughts, because Isa laughed. “In fine form, I take it. I hope it wasn’t too difficult for you.”

V’Ginn felt his cheeks flush as he shook his head vehemently. “No. No, she, ah...” he trailed off. This mission would not have gone half as smoothly as it had without Rwiari’s interventions on his behalf with the empaths of the colony. “Miss Ibreten was very useful,” he managed stiffly.

A little frown creased Isa’s brow for a moment, but all she said was “I’m glad to hear it.”

The debriefing was blessedly short, and at the end of it Isa ordered him to his quarters to rest. “I’ve got your usual barrage of reports on standby. I want you to actually take some time off-duty to get your mind in order before you dive back in.”

“Captain...” V’Ginn’s protest was half-hearted; his captain knew him too well.

“That’s an order, V’Ginn.”

“Very well.” He stood and gave Isa a little nod that she returned, and made for his quarters.

His quarters felt very large and empty after two weeks spent living out of a shuttle with a talkative Betazoid as a roommate. He shut his eyes and tried to breathe. He still felt too tense, too restless. Miss Ibreten’s absence seemed to be as distressing as her presence—no, more so. If she were present, he would know what trouble she was getting up to. But with her absent, he had no idea.

It was suddenly too warm in his quarters. Too warm, the air thick in each breath he took, his lungs laboring, his pulse racing. _What...?_

And then he realized. Had it truly been seven years?

It had.

No wonder he had been so irritated by Miss Ibreten’s presence.

He tapped the badge on his chest. “V’Ginn to the captain.”

“Isa here.”

“Captain, I may need to take a few days of leave.”

“V’Ginn?”

“Biology calls,” he said, as drily as he could manage.

Isa’s Betazoid heritage seemed to have eliminated the need for pon farr, but she was still half Vulcan, still followed the teachings of Surak as well as she could, still understood what he meant and what he needed without him offering up further details. “I see. Will you need a shuttle?”

He shook his head, an unconscious movement meant for a person who couldn’t see him. “We are too far out, even at top speed. And I will soon be beyond operating a shuttle.” The fact that it would not be safe for anyone who might offer to pilot the shuttle for him, he left unsaid. Isa would be aware of that without his prompting.

“I’ll put a hold on one of the holodecks for you, then. Your personal use only.”

“Thank you.” He tapped his badge and ended the call.

He considered, for a moment, sending a message to Vulcan. There, his mate-to-be waited. T’Pak, who had refused to go with him when he had joined Starfleet, who had not shown any particular distress when the pon farr that should have been their first came and went, with him halfway across the quadrant from her, and even less when the second and third had passed in the same way. Theirs had been a childhood bond, less that of two like minds than one meant to cement ties between two clans. As adults... as adults, they had even less in common. And for all that V’Ginn longed for a mate, for all that each passing pon farr left him feeling empty and lost, resenting the time spent meditating and locked away on a holodeck... well, some part of him was glad that he had never been close enough to Vulcan to finally claim the mate he had promised himself to.

He would not have known what to do with her.

 _You would know what to do with Rwiari_ , his mind offered up.

He shook his head, shoving that thought away. Or trying to, at least. But the truth was, he would know what to do with Rwiari. Had been aware of it ever since he had met the woman, for all that it had been inappropriate for him to consider her that way while she had still been a prisoner.

And the truth was, he did not know how much of his frequent irritation with the woman had to do with him actually finding her irritating, and how much of it had to do with the fact that he wanted her and could not, in good conscience, pursue her.

 _You could now_ , that persuasive voice in his head suggested.

V’Ginn shook his head to clear it once more. He clearly needed to get to a holodeck as quickly as possible.

Because if he did not, he fully expected that the next hour would find him on his knees at Rwiari’s feet, begging her to relieve the feverish heat that even now was racing through his veins.

* * *

It had been two days since they had returned to the Hephaestus, and Rwiari had not seen V’Ginn since she had stormed out of the shuttle bay. She wouldn’t have normally noticed his absence, she thought, but she wanted to apologize for how she had behaved on their journey back to the Hephaestus, and his complete disappearance worried her.

Finally, close to the end of the second day, she caved and made her way to the bridge, intent on asking her niece.

Isa got up from her chair immediately when Rwiari arrived on the bridge. “Something wrong, Auntie Ri?”

“Ah, nothing urgent. But if you’re not too busy, could I have a moment?”

“In my ready room,” Isa said, jerking her head towards the door of it and coming to join Rwiari. “What is it?”

Rwiari fidgeted. She wasn’t quite sure how to ask. “It’s V’Ginn. I just... is something wrong with him? Only I haven’t seen him anywhere, and it’s far too noisy around here for me to scan for him without getting a headache, and of course I don’t have the clearance to get a straight answer from the computer about where he is on the ship, I’m just a civilian, and...” Rwiari trailed off, feeling her cheeks flush hot at the amused look her niece was giving her. “And I’m babbling.”

“He’s fine. He just needed some time off for a personal matter,” Isa said.

“I see.”

“Why have you been looking for him, anyway?”

Rwiari sighed. “I provoked him on our trip back. Deliberately. I shouldn’t have, and I wanted to apologize.”

“Well, he should be back on duty by the end of the week, and I’m sure he would be glad to get an apology then.”

“Back on duty? So he’s still on the ship?” At Isa’s nod, Rwiari frowned. “What personal business could possibly keep him busy for a week and not take him off the ship?”

“Really, Auntie?” Isa raised her eyebrows deliberately.

And suddenly, Rwiari knew. “Oh. Oh. I see. Well. Yes. This can certainly wait until the end of the week.”

“Glad I did’t have to spell it out for you.” Isa patted Rwiari on her shoulder. “He didn’t mention you starting fights on purpose in his briefing. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about it by now.”

“Hopefully. If his pon farr is going so poorly that he’s dwelling on my nonsense, I feel sorry for his mate,” Rwiari said drily, suppressing the pang that the thought of V’Ginn having a mate gave her. Of course he had a mate. He was too old not to.

“He hasn’t got a mate to be sorry for,” came Isa’s equally dry response. “And I really ought to get back on duty, so time for me to shoo you out of my ready room.”

“Of course. I’ll just be on my way.” Rwiari drifted along in her niece’s wake, feeling strangely elated. Not that he had shown any sign of an emotion other than irritation in her presence, but it was enough to give her some hope, all the same. After all, a Vulcan with a mate she had no chance with... but a Vulcan free of that bond?

She might just be able to convince him to like her, in time.

* * *

V’Ginn had spent the better part of two days meditating, centering his mind in his body while he still had the chance to in preparation for the ordeal ahead. It was never easy, tricking his mind into believing that a hologram was his mate-to-be, and he needed all the preparation he could get.

It hadn’t been enough. He could tell now that he had the program running and was facing a hologram of T’Pak, could tell when he reached for her that this was not real, that this was not right, for all that he was burning up in the fever of his pon farr.

He should have returned to Vulcan long ago, should have accepted the mate who did not want him except out of duty.

That, or he should have chosen a mate of his own.

A choice of the heart. He had heard whispers and rumors of such things. Vulcans did not like to admit to emotion influencing any of their choices, but sometimes...

Who would he choose, if he had the choice?

It really was no choice at all.

Perhaps he would regret it later. Perhaps it was just lust for the woman’s body that drew him to her.

But he had to try.

* * *

Rwiari answered the chime on her door with a distracted “Enter!” as she dove for her closet, snatching up a robe. She liked being naked when she was alone. Would have gone without clothing and its restriction entirely, had she the option, but most other species found the Betazoid lack of nudity taboos suspicious and worrying.

She had expected her niece, here for an impromptu cup of tea at the end of shift.

She had not expected V’Ginn, standing there in the open doorway of her quarters, looking... looking...

Well, he looked like shit. A thin sheen of sweat made his skin glisten in the lights of her quarters, his hair hung in lank damp clumps across his forehead and around his ears. He looked like he hadn’t slept since she had last seen him, which was, she thought, a little too long to go without sleep even for a Vulcan.

He had not taken a single step into the room.

“Come in,” she said. “Unless you’d rather I take you to the medical bay. You look like you belong there instead of here.”

V’Ginn shook his head and took two unsteady steps into the room, the door closing behind him. “If you cannot help me, then I shall return to holodeck.”

“What can I help you with?”

V’Ginn’s face stretched into a shaky smile, a truly startling expression on the stoic Vulcan’s face. And then he fell to his knees. Rwiari rushed to his side with a cry of dismay, but he jerked away from her and held up a stilling hand. “Do not touch me. Please. I am managing to keep my mind shielded, just barely, but if you touch me...”

Rwiari took a step back. “I understand. Why are you here?”

V’Ginn looked up at her, and she knew before he said the words. “Become my mate.”

“V’Ginn...”

“Please.”

“You’re not being rational, you know.” Rwiari let out a little laugh. “Me becoming your mate—that’s not a logical choice at all.”

“I know.” His eyes seemed very dark, almost as dark as a Betazoid’s, their pupils wide and forcing out the pale blue of his irises. “But I could think of no other choice I would prefer as well as you.”

“It’s for life.”

“I know.” He gave her another smile, this one wry and self-conscious. “I will have to find some way to go before you. I am not certain I could bear going on without you.”

The enormity of that feeling struck Rwiari, forcing the breath from her lungs.

Could she do this? He seemed very certain of his own feelings, despite the fact that they fought with one another constantly.

Fights she often provoked deliberately to distract herself from her attraction to the very man who was now kneeling on the floor of her quarters, asking her to bind herself to him for life. Fights that, more and more, her heart had not truly been invested in, except for the part where they focused V’Ginn’s attention entirely on her.

Rwiari knelt in front of V’Ginn. “I wish you’d asked before it got this desperate,” she said.

He gave her a forlorn look. “So do I. I do not like... this is too much pressure to put on you.” He put a hand to the ground, obviously preparing to get back to his feet. “I will return to holodeck.”

Rwiari reached out and grabbed his free hand. V’Ginn froze as she traced her fingers over his in a soft caress. “That wasn’t a no,” she said softly.

V’Ginn let out a low cry that sounded remarkably like joy.

“Do you even know what to do with a Betazoid woman?”

He laughed shakily. “In theory.”

She pulled his hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Let’s turn that theory into practice, then.” And hope that said practice would not lead the pair of them to the same fate that had befallen Isa’s parents.

Did he know about that? Should she tell him? But no, now was not the time for that. He had released his firm hold on his own mind now, and she was astonished that he had been able to hold on as long as he had; the heat of pon farr raged within him, blanking out all the familiar contours of the logical mind she was used to brushing up against. It drew her to him, that heat, left her wanting to bask in its warmth.

His hands were on her face now as he sought out a direct path into her mind. She lowered her barriers and opened her mind to him, taking the bond he offered and releasing part of herself to him.

Indescribable. It was indescribable, and the heat he had been holding back was suddenly filling her as well, surging through her veins and leaving her no choice but to reach for him, with both body and mind.

“Betazoid women like to be kissed,” he said, staring at her with an expression of wonder on his face. And suddenly, his mouth was on hers, his tongue teasing her lips apart, his body responding to hers by pure instinct.

They didn’t even make it to her bed.

* * *

V’Ginn could not wait a moment longer. He might have been able to retain some semblance of control over himself if it hadn’t been for the fact that Rwiari was a Betazoid of a certain age... and where pon farr heated his own blood, the constant itch of the phase had her ready for him in an instant.

The best he could do was be gentle, and even that was a struggle against his baser instincts. This first coupling was hot and fast, Rwiari pushed back to the floor of her quarters, her robe askew, V’Ginn struggling with his trousers and undergarments until he managed to free his erection. And then he was on her, over her, pressing inside her as she parted her legs for him.

He could feel her presence in his mind, could feel her anticipate his needs and fulfill them. There, the soft stroking of her fingers over his, where his hand was pressed against the ground. There, the gentle touch of her mind within his, where she sparked a wave of pleasure that engulfed him entire. He groaned and lost himself inside her, collapsing against her body, insensible for a moment.

After a few moments, Rwiari nudged his shoulder gently. “So sorry to bother you, and I definitely would like to keep doing this, but... could we move to the bed?”

V’Ginn let out a weak laugh. Oh, they would have no choice but to continue. Once had not been enough. Not enough for him, not enough to satisfy those base instincts of his, and definitely, he realized as he let his mind brush up against his mate’s, not enough for her. He brushed a kiss against her temple. “Yes. We can move to bed. Provided you are willing to stay there for next few days.”

The glow of self-satisfaction that Rwiari gave off at that pronouncement lead to it taking two more tries to get to the bed. By the time they finally clambered in to Rwiari’s narrow bed, packed close and tight together, the heat that had driven V’Ginn to her had almost abated... only to be replaced by a tender warmth that filled him to the bursting.

He had a mate.

He had a mate, and she was here in his arms, warm and safe.

That was his last thought before he drifted off.

* * *

Rwiari woke to the feel of V’Ginn’s breath, hot against the back of her neck, to the lanky length of his body pressed against her, to his arm wrapped around her middle, holding her almost painfully tight.

Well.

That had been... unexpected.

Definitely not an erotic dream of some kind, then.

V’Ginn shifted against her, the hard bar of his erection pressing against her ass. “Good morning.” His voice was stiff and emotionless, a far cry from the passionate plea he had come to her with just a few hours before.

“Darling, you are naked and in my bed. There’s no reason to stand on ceremony.”

His arm relaxed, and he nuzzled her gently on the back of her neck. “In that case...” His hand slid down her side to her leg, his palm warm against her thigh, his intentions clear. “May I?”

Rwiari let her mind brush against his and smiled. Nothing ceremonial about what he wanted. No, this was a fuck he had in mind, quick and dirty. “Please.”

V’Ginn let out a grunt of satisfaction, and Rwiari waited for him to lift her leg, to spread her wide for him, but instead his fingers found her cunt, wicked and demanding.

And it wasn’t just his fingers on her, inside her. There was the subtle touch of his mind within hers, following the pathways of sensation in her mind, amplifying the pleasure she felt as he stroked her swift and sure to an orgasm. She arched her back, gasping as she came, and it was only then that his hand returned to her thigh, lifting her leg back over his hips. She felt his other hand busy between them for a moment and then his cock was inside her, his movements swift and desperate as he sought his own climax. Rwiari placed her hand over his and stroked his fingers again and again until he stiffened against her, his fingers digging hard into her thigh, and she followed the spark of his orgasm into a second one of her own, marveling at the mating bond now strung between, at how easily it let her share in V’Ginn’s pleasure and offer hers in return.

They lay there, relaxed and panting, for a very long time afterwards. V’Ginn’s lips were pressed against her shoulder, her hand still rested gently over his, and his cock slowly slid out of her, coating her inner thighs in their combined emissions. Not that that part of her was very clean to begin with; she had used the robe to wipe the pair of them off as well as she could before they had clambered into bed, but exhaustion had gotten the better of both of them.

“I need a shower,” she said eventually, breaking the silence.

“Mm.” V’Ginn pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “I wish we were in my quarters. I have a water shower there. And a bath.”

Rwiari let out a groan of longing. A hot bath sounded marvelous right about now, especially when the best she could offer was a sponging off in a basin and a vibe-shower to follow. “I’m afraid the facilities here are a little more limited.”

“You will have opportunity to test it later,” V’Ginn said, and oh, she wished she could see his face, because it felt as if his lips had just curved into a smile, and the memory of that shaky smile he had borne yesterday wasn’t enough.

“Will I?”

“I want you to move in to my quarters,” he said, a sudden jolt of anxiety disrupting the smooth relaxation of his mind. So this mattered to him, then.

“I think there’s something I need to tell you about first. Before we decide to move in together.” Rwiari swallowed hard. Her mind felt stable, and so did his, but that didn’t mean they were stable. “A story. About my past. And the captain’s.”

V’Ginn froze, anxiety spiking for a moment before his usual Vulcan stoicism took over. “Tell me.”

Rwiari chewed her lower lip, trying to decide how to begin. “Isa’s father was my cousin. My only living relative, at least that I knew of. My only relation at all. Neither his father nor mine saw fit to continue relations with Ibreten women or the children they had fathered on them, and by then...” Rwiari sighed.

“You say your family name as if it is a curse,” V’Ginn said softly.

“It might as well be. We’re volatile people, us Ibretens, and everyone knows it. And it’s killed us young, over the years. Killed my mother and my aunt long before their time.” Rwiari swallowed hard, considering how to put what she needed to say next and deciding on the blunt version. “My cousin left for Risa on a two week trip for recreation. He came back in a body bag, every neuron in his mind burnt out.”

V’Ginn let out a low hiss of breath. “What happened?”

“Isa’s mother.”

“It was—?”

“Rape? Not that anyone could tell. But she had just recently lost her mate, and her pon farr was imminent.”

“And should have been suppressed by the death of her mate.” V’Ginn fell silent, obviously considering the ramifications. “But if your cousin was interested...”

“And projecting his desire? Yes, that’s what I thought.”

“And Isa’s mother survived long enough to give birth.”

“Not naturally, but yes.”

“And now you are worried that we will have same outcome.” He had obviously been following along with the rush of her thoughts as she spoke, anticipating what worried her most about the situation they now found themselves in.

“A little bit, yes.”

V’Ginn let out a low hum of contemplation and lifted himself over her so that he could look her in the eye, his expression serious. “Then it is even more vital that we move to my quarters as quickly as possible.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “I have limited medical suite there. Can monitor us both.”

Rwiari grinned up at him. “You’re just trying to get me into your bath.”

“That is untrue. I am also trying to get you into my bed. It is much larger. And more comfortable.” His face was smooth and almost expressionless, but there was a sparkle in his eyes that left Rwiari smiling helplessly up at him. Oh, she loved his dry sense of humor.

She loved every part of him.

Oh.

She loved him.

“I love you,” she said, so full to bursting with her sudden realization that she could not help but say the words out loud.

V’Ginn frowned down at her. “Are you certain? When I came to you yesterday—“

Rwiari grinned and pulled him down to her, pressing a swift kiss to his mouth to shut him up. “I’m certain,” she said, her lips still brushing his. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he responded, obviously surprised by the words despite the fact that they rang true, echoed in his emotional state before being quashed out of existence.

“I suspected you might. There was that whole thing where you said you would have to find a way to go before me.”

His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he gave her an incredulous look. “I said that?”

“Out loud, even.”

“And you are still here.” There was a tender, lost expression on his face, one she had never seen before.

“Of course I am.” Rwiari pulled him in for another kiss, her fingers tangled in his hair.

Eventually, V’Ginn pulled back from her, his breath warm against her lips. “We should go clean up. You are too sore to continue.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try,” Rwiari muttered.

V’Ginn laughed, a delightful sound, and leaned in to kiss her on the tip of her nose. “Shower and food first. And a move to my quarters, where we will be more comfortable.”

Rwiari rolled her eyes. “Oh, very well. But I require one more kiss first.”

He gave her several.

* * *

V’Ginn examined Rwiari’s small, cramped quarters while she cleaned herself up in the tiny bathroom that was attached to them. The Hephaestus was primarily a warship, and had a corresponding dearth of quarters for civilians; he suspected that this room was meant to house an ensign.

He had to get Rwiari out of it as soon as possible. Not just because it was obvious that she hated its cramped dimensions—and oh, did she hate that part of living here, he could tell from the constant hum of annoyance she was feeling as she navigated her closet of a bathroom—but because he was full of a certain harsh possessiveness where she was involved. He wanted her safe in his home.

And there was also the story she had told him. He did not feel any instability in her mind or in his own, or even in the bond between them, but it would be better, safer if he could monitor them both. Just to make sure that nothing would go wrong, when so much could between telepaths of different species. And also, just a little, so that he could be certain he had not damaged her physically either. The phase might increase a Betazoid female’s sexual stamina, but that didn’t mean that her body would be able to keep up. He would not allow physical harm to come to her just because he was too overcome by lust to be gentle.

“Bathroom’s all yours,” Rwiari said, stepping back into the main room of her quarters.

“Thank you. You should pack.”

“Just enough for a couple of days, I think,” she said, her eyes following him as he passed her by, clearly caught on his erection, which had returned while she had been taking care of her personal hygiene and which was showing no signs of going down on its own. He would simply have to traverse the corridors in this state, he suspected.

“Why only a couple of days?” V’Ginn asked as he filled the washbasin in the bathroom and wet the cloth Rwiari had left there for him.

“Well, for one, you might get sick of me.”

He stuck his head back out of the bathroom to glare disapprovingly at her, though he suspected she was too deep in her closet to notice. “Never.”

“We’ll see,” she shot back in teasing warning. “But the real reason is I suspect I’m not going to be wearing much clothing for the rest of the week.”

He also thought it unlikely. “A logical conclusion.” He finished his sponge bath and emerged from the bathroom to find Rwiari pulling a dress over her head that draped loosely across her form when she finished tugging it into place. The back of ithung low, curving well below her shoulder blades, a delicious expanse of skin half-obscured by the wild curls of her hair. “And if we make it to the end of this week, and are not sick of one another?” he asked, sliding in behind her and tucking a few curls of her hair to one side so that he could press a kiss to her neck. Rwiari shivered, and a little tendril of pleasure unfolded in her mind. V’Ginn suppressed a smile and pressed a kiss behind her ear, and another to her jaw.

“We are going to need to clean ourselves up again before we leave if you keep going like that,” Rwiari said in a voice that was suddenly low and raspy.

“It seems I cannot resist you,” V’Ginn growled.

“Go put your pants on,” she said, swatting playfully at him as he craned his neck over her shoulder to press a kiss to her cheek. “You can last until we get to your quarters.”

They wound up running most of the way to his quarters in the end, V’Ginn clutching the small bag of Rwiari’s clothing to his front, Rwiari collapsing into relieved giggles every time another crew member passed them by without seeming to notice anything out of the ordinary. V’Ginn suspected Rwiari was the reason they passed unnoticed; he was so used to the vast presence she filled the room around her with that it was surprising to realize that she could project an absence as well.

He was unable to wait any longer once they were in his quarters. He tossed the bag aside and swung Rwiari around against the wall to one side of the door, unfastening his trousers and letting them drop around his knees. He rucked the skirt of Rwiari’s dress up around her waist, letting out an approving mutter at her lack of underclothing, and she let out a little gasp of surprise as he lifted her bodily, pressing her to the wall and himself inside her in one smooth motion. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his shoulders, and clung to him as he took her roughly against the wall, once more too far gone in his arousal to think of anything but relief.

He wanted to take Rwiari on every surface in his quarters.

She could tell, too. Even as she worked him into a frenzy with soft touches to his mind, he felt an underlying thread of amusement in her thoughts. He wanted to bask in that amusement, in the warm and open nature of her mind, so different than what she had been like when he had first met her. Then, she had been closed and damaged, every smile fake, every action guarded. And then she had been freed from the prison of her own mind, and now...

Now an orgasm tore through her, hot and fierce and impossible to resist. He followed her into ecstasy, his mind blank of everything but the pleasure they were sharing.

When next he came to his senses, he was still holding Rwiari pinned against the wall. She was stroking his hair gently, her lips pressed to his neck, obviously waiting for him to return to himself. V’Ginn let out a low huff of breath and carefully lowered her to the ground.

Her knees buckled. He wrapped his arms around her again.

“Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “It’s been a long time since I was last this active.”

“Let us get you in the bath,” V’Ginn said, lifting her in his arms again. “Hot water will help.”

Rwiari laughed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “You’re going to strain something.”

She might be right, but right now he did not care. He carried her across the main room of his quarters to the bathroom and deposited her on the edge of the tub. “What do you need to wash yourself?” he asked as he took ahold of her dress where it was still rucked up around her waist.

“A shower cap,” she said, smiling at him as he pulled the dress over her head. “Hot water does terrible things to my hair.”

“And soap?”

She shook her head. “I just want to bask in the heat.” Her eyes flicked up and down, examining him. “And this tub is big enough that you could join me.”

The thought was more than a little bit tempting. “You can barely stand.”

“Suit yourself...”

But the desultory comment was followed by a soft mental stroke directly to the pleasure center of his brain. His own knees buckled, and he fell to the ground in front of her.

“I’m sorry!” Her hands went to his shoulders. “Are you all right?”

“I will join you in bath,” he said, breathing hard, before retaliating. She squirmed, her thighs pressed together.

“You had better,” she said, sounding just as breathless as he was.

They did not leave the bath until the water had gone cold.

* * *

Rwiari lounged on her mate’s bed, utterly wrung out and exhausted. V’Ginn, on the other hand, seemed to be full of an almost frenetic energy. After the bath, he had replicated them both a meal that they desperately needed by that point, and after they had both eaten their fill he had coaxed her over to the simple med station he had in his quarters and had scanned them both, physically and mentally. Scans that revealed only the imbalances that were to be expected for a Vulcan recovering after pon farr and a Betazoid woman mid-phase. Scans that they had needed to stop in the middle of for yet another desperate coupling, both of them still luxuriating in the heat of this new mating bond.

Even after a muscle regeneration treatment, she was still sore enough that too much movement hurt, so V’Ginn had turned himself to work of his own, reviewing reports from the past few days aboard the ship. His mind was almost back to what it had been, logic at the forefront, every hint of emotion ruthlessly snuffed out... until he lifted his head from reading the report and looked across the room at her. Every time he did, a warm glow of joy suffused his mind, too powerful to be overwhelmed by the discipline that kept Vulcans free of the impact of their emotions.

She hoped he would always feel that way when he looked at her.

 _~Why are you smiling?~_ he sent her, now in enough control of his mind to use the telepathy that usually came so easily to both of their species.

Rwiari found herself smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. _~Just... you.~_

 _~Me?~_ V’Ginn quirked an eyebrow up, clearly bemused. _~What about me?~_

_~You’re perfect. That’s all.~_

He blushed so hard she could see it from across the room. Rwiari sat up, intending to go to him... and then froze. There, at the edge of her passive psychic perception...

“You wouldn’t happen to know where that bag of clothing ended up, would you?” Rwiari asked casually, feeling more secure with the spoken word given who was headed their way.

V’Ginn frowned at her. “I think it is still by the door.”

“Right.” Rwiari swung her legs off the edge of the bed and pushed herself to her feet, trying not to wobble. “You might want to get dressed. We’re about to have company.”

“Company?” The edge of Isa’s empathic field must have hit his own field of perception then. V’Ginn’s eyes widened, and he dashed into the other room, returning with her bag of clothing before scrambling hastily into a fresh uniform.

Rwiari pulled one of the loose dresses she had packed on, belting it securely around her waist before considering her hair, which had to be a tousled mess. She settled for hastily finger-combing some of her curls back into a semblance of order before tossing it back over her shoulders. She would have to remember to wrap it tonight and spend some time sorting it out tomorrow; the night before she had been too exhausted to do anything with it before falling into bed with V’Ginn, and between that and the length of time it had spent under a shower cap earlier today, it was in need of some tender loving care.

The door chimed. V’Ginn offered her his arm, and she wobbled her way back into the main room of his quarters at his side, relying heavily on his support.

“Enter,” V’Ginn called.

Isa was standing outside the door, looking very stern. Very Vulcan. Rwiari almost wanted to laugh at the sight, but she didn’t think her niece would take it well. “Come in, darling girl,” Rwiari said instead.

That broke through the sternness. Isa rolled her eyes and stepped in to V’Ginn’s quarters. “I can see you’re fine, then. Both of you.”

“As well as can be expected,” V’Ginn said. “The last day has been...” he trailed off, blushing.

“Active,” Rwiari finished for him. “So if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit down.” She let go of V’Ginn’s arm and wobbled over to the couch, plopping herself down on it. “Could I get you some tea?”

“Honestly, I think I’d better leave you two to it,” Isa said. “I think V’Ginn might attack me if I come any closer right now.”

He made a small sound of protest, but Rwiari followed the bond between them into V’Ginn’s mind anyway. A fierce protectiveness hummed bright at the front of his mind, making it hard for logic to get through. Rwiari let herself sink into that feeling of his, ran gentle fingers of thought through it, soothing it away.

From behind, she watched V’Ginn’s shoulders relax. He let out a sigh. “Please. Stay,” he croaked.

Isa shook her head. “I just wanted to make sure...”

V’Ginn nodded. “She told me.”

Isa’s shoulders relaxed as well. “So you’re keeping an eye on it.”

“Yes.” V’Ginn seemed to be engaged in some sort of mental exchange with Isa. After a moment, he nodded once more. “She will be safe with me. I promise I will keep her safe, whatever it takes.”

A little smile quirked up the corner of Isa’s mouth. “I guess I don’t need to worry about Starfleet taking her away. Not now that she’s a Vulcan’s mate.”

“They will regret it if they try.”

Isa nodded briefly to them both and then turned and left. Rwiari let out a light, relieved laugh when her niece was gone. “Well. That went about as well as it could have, I think.”

V’Ginn joined her on the couch, collapsing backwards, his head falling back against the cushion. “She was terrifying enough when she was just my captain,” he complained. “I did not think this through.”

Rwiari laughed properly at that, so hard that tears came to her eyes. _~I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now.~_

He sat up, his pale blue gaze very intent on her. _~Good.~_

He slid his arm across her shoulders and drew her to him, parting her lips with a fierce, desperate kiss. After a long, quiet moment where the only sounds were the press of lips to lips, the rustle of clothing as they clung to one another, the harsh, swift breaths they each took in the moments when they had a chance, V’Ginn pulled back with a groan.

“Please tell me you are not _too_ sore,” he panted.

“Only one way to find out,” she breathed back.

He let out a low chuckle and laid her down on his couch.


End file.
